Penn Relays: East Brunswick 4x100, Ridge 4x800 cap epic showing for area track & field

PHILADELPHIA — There are very few opportunities for track & field athletes to cross the finish line first with 38,000 screaming fans in the stands.

Jayden Phillip had one Saturday, and he seized it.

The East Brunswick High School senior anchored the Bears’ 4x100 to victory in the Penn Relays International Final. They recorded a blistering time of 41.49 as Phillip held off the anchor for Jamaica’s Wolmer’s Boys (second place, 41.63). He extended his arms in triumph at the line as the crowd roared.

“It’s amazing,” Phillip said. “So many people coming here to see us run, it’s crazy. It’s a great experience.”

James Sparrow, Christopher Serrao and Aiden Baldelli ran the first three legs for East Brunswick, which lowered its own Middlesex County record and logged the 12th-fastest 4x100 time in state history. It was the second-fastest American clocking recorded at the Penn Relays, behind only Calvert Hall of Maryland.

The Bears had qualified for the final by running 42.03 in Friday’s trials.

“The handoffs, I felt, were a lot better today,” Serrao said. “We finally got it down, and I think that might have been the key to dropping our time.”

This group thinks they can go sub-41 before the season’s out. That’s rarefied air for schoolboys.

“We’re not done,” Serrao said. “There’s a lot left we can do.”

They did quite a bit on Saturday. In the morning, several hours before the 4x100, East Brunswick’s 4x400 posted New Jersey's second-fastest time, a 3:18.30 eye-opener. The foursome of Baldelli (50.80), Serrao (48.72), Joshua Augustine (50.09) and Phillip (48.70) won their heat easily, by a whopping 11 seconds.

Their time wound up being the 15th-fastest among 416 entrants. Only five American squads ran faster, including Seton Hall Prep (3:17.84).

“This is what we expected,” Sparrow said. “We work hard, we work together. We work for this every day.”

Ridge earns watches in boys 4x800

Prior to the meet Ridge’s boys made a difficult decision: challenge rival Union Catholic for the distance medley title or take their chances against Jamaican power Jamaica College in the 4x800.

The chose the latter, and while they didn’t get a Penn Relays wheel, they did come home with gold watches as the top Americans. The quartet of Andrew McCabe (1:56), James Kisker (1:54), Patrick Doran (1:57) and Jackson Barna (1:53.08) ran 7:41.59, 13 seconds behind Jamaica College’s otherworldly 7:28 but ahead of the rest of the American squads in the 14-team Championship of America final.

“I’m proud of the boys,” Doran said. “Jamaica College is a great team. I’m not sure we were expected to win, but we put a great effort out there. (Third-place) West Springfield pushed us hard; 7:41 is not something to be ashamed of.”

Barna got the stick in third and passed West Springfield to earn Ridge the distinction as the top Americans.

“I knew I had it,” he said. “I was like, ‘Let’s get a watch for our boys.”

They got them, so no regrets.

“Our 4x800 had a reputation to uphold,” Kisker said. “We love the 4x8 and take pride in it.”

Those were just the latest highlights from series of dominant showings at the Penn Relays by Central Jersey track & field athletes. Here's a rundown of the rest:

Union Catholic’s triumph

Union Catholic has been New Jersey’s dominant program for several years under coach Mike McCabe, but the Vikings never collected a Penn Relays wheel — the meet’s most coveted prize, a giant oval plaque for winning a relay.

That changed Friday as Jimmy Wischusen (3:11 for the 1200-meter leg), Nick Givan (49.7 400), Myles Plummer (1:58.0 800) and Shane Brosnan (4:15 anchor 1600) broke the tape in 10:14.42.

“This was something we’ve been talking about forever,” said Plummer, who hails from Franklin. “(McCabe) said we’ve never had a Penn wheel, and we finally got it. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but I know we’re going to cherish it.”

These things don’t come easily, and Brosnan had to hold off hard-charging St. Raphael (R.I.) anchor Devan Kipyego in the final lap. Kipyego ripped off a 4:04 anchor but Union Catholic held on to win by just under a second.

“Going into the last lap I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is happening,” Brosnan said. “I knew I was running solo, and hearing the crowd I knew he was closing down on me.”

It’s a lonely, nerve-wracking place to be. But Brosnan dug deep enough, unlocked just enough gas in the tank, to get the Vikings to the winner’s podium.

“Very proud of this team,” he said.

Metuchen's epic run

At the time, in 1997, it seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. The Metuchen High School boys track team earned a medal in the 4x400 at the Penn Relays with a fifth-place finish.

Could a small public school from Central Jersey ever top that?

It took 25 years, but consider it topped. The Bulldogs’ girls distance medley placed second in Thursday’s Championship of America, posting an epic effort in one of the Penn Relays’ marquee events.

Caroline Schleif, Nelagh Matthews, Sara Lignell and Molly Malague clocked 11:57.17, breaking the Middlesex County record and finishing behind only New York juggernaut Saratoga Springs (11:43).

“Amazing,” Malague said. “We are super excited and grateful for the opportunity.”

Schleif set the tone with a monster lead leg, covering 1200 meters in 3:34 to hand off in first place. Matthews (1:01.9 400) and Lignell (2:24 800) held the fort before Malague took it home with a 4:56 anchor 1600.

“Very exciting atmosphere, energetic,” Schleif said. “It’s an atmosphere where you run your fastest time, and that’s what we came out to do today.”

Although it happened before they were born, these Bulldogs were well aware of the legend of 1997. That Metuchen 4x400, anchored by two-time state champion Tyrone Ross, wound up winning the national title later that spring. Metuchen’s longtime track coaches Marty and Kelli Holleran told that story a few times through the years.

“Nothing every matches Tyrone, according to the Hollerans,” Malague said with a laugh. “We’re trying to our best to live up to that.”

There’s room to grow. Malague is still rounding into form after playing basketball during the winter.

“I think we’re capable of a whole lot and we showed that today,” she said.

This marked the program’s first qualification for the distance medley at Penn. It was all new to these girls, especially after the pandemic scuttled the meet the past two years.

“We wanted to make it one for the record books,” Schleif said. “We wanted to leave it all on the track. That’s what we did.”

Gold watch for South Brunswick's Potts

The seeds for Potts’ victory in the high jump were planted early Friday morning, when South Brunswick’s sizable contingent staked out a spot in the stands along the far turn — and within shouting distance of the high jump pit.

As soon as Potts cleared 6-foot-6, his top height of the day, he leapt up from the mat and pointed to the Vikings who rooted him on.

“I felt their energy,” he said.

Only Jamaica’s Dejone Raymond jumped higher, clearing 6-8. Potts broke a tie for second because he was clean through four attempts — he cleared 6-2, 6-4, 6-5 and 6-6 without a miss.

“The opportunity to be here after (the meet was canceled) the last two years was truly a blessing,” he said. “Competing out there, there was huge pressure, but the pressure didn’t get to me.”

His personal best is 6-9, but windy conditions knocked everyone down a peg. In the end, he became South Brunswick’s highest finisher at Penn since the great Yemi Ayeni won the boys discus in 2005.

His reward: an engraved gold watch that goes to all winners and the top American finishers in each event.

‘Very few people have these, so it’s amazing,” Potts said. “To be able to say I jumped at Penn Relays and got a gold watch, it’s an honor.”

He’s being recruited by a number of college track programs, including Baylor. This will only raise his profile, but Potts was thinking along other lines.

“It’s a motivation for not only myself, but for younger athletes, to keep striving up,” he said. “For my family even, because I have two younger siblings (ages 12 and 9).

As South Brunswick coach Wilfredo Rivera put it: “That watch, it’s a good symbolic thing for all his hard work.”

East Brunswick burns up the track

East Brunswick’s James Sparrow, Christopher Serrao, Aiden Baldelli and Jayden Phillip blazed to a 42.03 clocking in the 4x100. That was 12th-fastest among 477 entrants and fourth-fastest among American quartets. The Bears advanced to the International Final on Saturday, and that wound up being one heck of a day for the program.

In the morning, East Brunswick's boys 4x400 posted New Jersey's second-fastest time, a 3:18.30 eye-opener. The foursome of Baldelli (50.80), Serrao (48.72), Joshua Augustine (50.09) and Phillip (48.70) won their heat easily, by a whopping 11 seconds.

Their time wound up being the 15th-fastest among 416 entrants. Only five American squads ran faster, including Seton Hall Prep (3:17.84).

Other local highlights

In the boys shot, Gill’s Licata earned a gold watch with a third-place finish courtesy of a 61-6.25 heave. Jamaicans took the top two spots.

In the girls 4x400 Championship of America, Scotch Plains’ Jackson split a track-scorching 52.9 on the anchor to lead the Raiders to eighth place in 3:48.14.

Ridge and Westfield won their respective boys 4x800 heats to advance to Saturday’s Championship of America. Westfield clocked 7:59 as anchor Charlie Stock threw down a 1:53.83 split. Ridge also posted a 7:59 with anchor Jackson Barna going 1:57.48.

In the girls’ pole vault, Montgomery’s Lauren Cashman placed third with a height of 11-7.75. In the girls’ long jump, Plainfield’s Celine Jada Brown took fourth with a distance of 18-7.25. Hillsborough produced two medalists in the boys pole vault: Brian O’Sullivan (14-9) and Kevin O’Sullivan (14-5.25).

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Penn Relays: East Brunswick 4x100, Ridge 4x800 cap epic meet for area